Browse All 37 Items
- Collection: Michigan Philanthropy Oral History Project Interviews
Van Iwaarden, Donna, video interview and transcript
Donna Van Iwaarden, former director of the Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University discusses her early life, education, family, and work at the University of North Carolina, Grand Valley State University’s School of Public…
Conversation with Margaret "Ranny" Rieker
Margaret "Ranny" Riecker, President/Treasurer of the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation in Midland, Michigan, tells Rebecca Noricks, Communications Manager at the Council of Michigan Foundations (CMF), about her family's philanthropy and her…
Payne, Michael R. video interview and transcript
Michael (Mike) Payne, Ph.D., discusses his service in the Air Force, education in economics at the University of Missouri and Syracuse, his study of for-profit and nonprofit hospitals in New York State in the late 60s, and teaching at Union…
Orosz, Joel J. video interview and transcript
Joel Orosz discusses his education and work at the Kalamazoo Public Museum, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and the Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University. He authored a book on how to be a grantmaker. He shares stories about…
Mawby, Russell G. video interview and transcript
Russ Mawby discusses his youth on a fruit farm and involvement with 4H and the Boy Scouts, his agricultural studies at Michigan State and Purdue Universities, and his military service in the US Army. He reflects on the history of the Kellogg family,…
Mast, Myron D. video interview and transcript
Myron "Mike" Mast, Ph.D., discusses his early life and education in South Dakota, his move to Grand Rapids to attend Calvin College, and his graduate work at the University of Colorado. He discusses the development of public administration as a…
Johnson, Dorothy A., video interview and transcript
Dorothy "Dottie"Johnson discusses her early life in Los Angeles and her education in public schools and at UC Berkeley and Harvard. She talks about working for J. Walter Thompson in New York and about moving to Grand Haven, Mich. where she began a…
Frey, David, G. video interview and transcript
David Frey is chairman of the Frey Foundation, a Grand Rapids, Michigan based family foundation. He discusses his early life, education, service as an officer in the Navy during the Vietnam War, and work as chairman and CEO of Union Bank, now part of…
Conversation with Rev. J. Louis Felton and Mattie Jordan-Woods
Reverend J. Louis Felton, Trustee of the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, and grantee Mattie Jordan-Woods, Executive Director of the Northside Association for Community Development, talk about their experiences living in Kalamazoo, Michigan and how…
Esposito, Virginia video interview and transcript
Virginia Esposito (Ginny) is the Founding President of the National Center for Family Philanthropy. She discusses her early life, education, and work as teacher and administrator at the Council on Foundations, and CEO of the National Center for…
Conversation with Tom Beech and Bonnie Allen
Bonnie Allen, attorney at the Center for Healing and the Law, interviews her colleague Tom Beech, President & CEO of The Fetzer Institute in Kalamazoo, Michigan, about his history in philanthropy and what he's learned along the way, including:…
Agard, Kathryn A., video interview and transcript
Kathryn A. Agard, Executive Director of the Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University, 2006-2010. She discusses her early life, education, family, and work in the Mental Health field, at Planned Parenthood Federation of…
Conversation with Patrick Wilson and Marsha Smith
Marsha Smith, Executive Director of Rotary Charities of Traverse City and Attorney Patrick Wilson recall the organization's history and Pat's legal involvement after the discovery of oil and gas at Rotary's camp in 1976 and the development of the…
Conversation with Priscilla Byrns, Stephen Upton, David Upton, and Sylvia Wood
StoryCorps facilitator Jonathan Pumilia interviews Frederick S. Upton Foundation family members and trustees Priscilla Byrns, Stephen Upton, David Upton and Sylvia Wood about their family foundation in Saint Joseph, Michigan. Together they remember…
Conversation with Charles and Stella Royce
Grand Rapids, Michigan, philanthropists Charles and Stella Royce tell Rebecca Noricks, Communications Manager at the Council of Michigan Foundations, the story of how they met and about their passion for supporting the arts and commitment to their…
Conversation with Russell Mawby and Kari Pardoe
Former Council of Michigan Foundations' Youth Philanthropy Associate, Kari Pardoe, talks with her mentor Russell Mawby, Chairman Emeritus of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan, about the youth philanthropy movement in Michigan and…
Conversation with Miriam Noland and David Page
Colleagues Miriam Noland, President of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, and David Page, Trustee, The Jewish Fund, talk about philanthropy's role in revitalizing downtown Detroit through the Detroit Riverfront Project.
Conversation with Mark Nepo and Shirley Showalter
Fetzer Institute colleagues Shirley Showalter, Vice President of Programs, and Mark Nepo, Program Officer of Kalamazoo, Michigan, talk about each of their personal experiences with philanthropy, including several stories drawn from around the world…
Conversation with Diana Sieger and Joseph Medcalf
Diana Seiger, President of the Grand Rapids Community Foundation (GRCF), talks with youth grantmaker Joseph Medcalf about how his experience as a youth trustee on GRCF's board and a member of their Youth Advisory Council has developed his leadership…
Conversation with Kathy Agard and James Kelly
Kathryn Agard, Executive Director of the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership and James Kelly, Co-Chair of Learning to Give, talk about their involvement in creating Learning to Give - a Council of Michigan Foundations…
Conversation with Olivia Maynard and Olof Karlstrom
Olivia Maynard, President of the Heron Oaks Foundation in Flint, Michigan, talks with her husband Olof Karlstrom, Treasurer, about the influence of her Swedish mother's volunteer work in Detroit on her understanding of philanthropy, their intentions…
Conversation with Joshua Engberts and Mondenna Jamshidi
Longtime friends Mondenna Jamshidi and Joshua Engberts talk about PeaceJam - a project supported by The Fetzer Institute of Kalamazoo, Michigan and others - and the healing role it has played in Joshua's life as he dealt with a difficult childhood…
Conversation with Chris T. Christ and Brenda L. Hunt
Brenda L. Hunt, President & CEO, Battle Creek Community Foundation (BCCF), talks with her good friend and foundation attorney Chris T. Christ about his involvement in philanthropy working with BCCF, the Kendall Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg…
Conversation with Rick Hughey, Jr. and Bob Rowe
Rick Hughey, Jr., Executive Vice President/CEO of the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation in Kalamazoo, Michigan talks with grantee Bob Rowe, a musician from Renaissance Enterprises, about Bob's transformative work of bringing gospel, country and R&B music…























